Report: Family Of BU Student Killed In Allston Fire To Sue Landlord, Brokers

BOSTON The family of a Boston University senior who was killed in an off-campus apartment blaze in April 2013 is preparing to sue the landlord and realty brokers for not keeping the building up to code.

The Boston Globe reports that Binland Lee’s father is expected to file a wrongful death suit Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of his daughter, saying the building was overcrowded, had limited fire exits and a faulty fire alarm system.

Binland Lee (Courtesy of Prestige Photography via BU Today)

The lawsuit comes after a Boston Globe investigation into the fire, which revealed that the 22-year-old Brooklyn-native shared the Allston six-bedroom house with 13 others, including three people living in the basement, which city inspectors deemed illegal in 2001.

Lee, who studied marine biology at BU, was living on the third floor where the only way out was a flight of stairs that was blocked by smoke and flames during the April 28 fire.

A lawyer representing landlord Anna Belokurova told the Globe the building was in full compliance.

The Boston City Council is considering a measure that would require schools to provide students’ off-campus addresses to city officials to help ensure residences are inspected.